TIPPY TEEN "Chemical Warfare"

We've done "dark and gloomy" for a month with Gothic and romance comic stories...

...so let's lighten the mood with a tale from Tippy Teen #1 (1965)!

Tower's character, Tippy Teen, was not an Archie clone.

She didn't have two boys fighting over her, as Betty and Veronica did over Archie, but a number of her supporting characters seemed like close relatives to some of Archie's pals and gals.

It's not surprising, since a number of Archie Comics writers and artists were also doing work for Tower, including Dan DeCarlo, Sam Schwartz, Harry Lucey (who penciled this story) and Bob White!

Tippy also had several spin-off comics including Tippy's Friends Go-Go & Animal and Teen-In, which serves as the basis of our Tippy line of kool kollectibles!

Trivia: The story is reputed to be a reworking of a story from Ginger #1, a short-lived title published by Archie Comics that reversed sexes for the characters.

(The lead was a red-headed girl pursued by blond and brunette boys.)

Since I don't have the issue, I can't verify it.

But the cover sorta speaks for itself...

Art by Geo Feese (signed)

Next week:

We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

Tippy's Teen-In™

Comics Collectibles Shop

"Death Came Dancing"

As a Halloween treat (no trick), here's a tale about true love from beyond the grave...

...from a classic 1950s horror comic!

This tale appeared in the 1952 one-shot comic anthology Phantom Witch Doctor by Avon Comics.

Both the writer and artist are unknown and the story has never been reprinted.

 Happy Halloween, everyone!

Next week:

We haven't decided yet which tale it'll be, but we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

DARK SHADOWS "Touchy Situation" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

It's almost Christmas at Collinswood and with most of the Collins family away, Victoria Winters visits Barnabas at his home tucked away at the edge of the property.
But there are others around Collinswood...others who don't belong!
One is an itinerant wanderer who, desperate for food, enters thru an unlocked window.
And, the empty mansion proves to be a tempting target for two recently-released convicts who plan to take everything they can carry.
Victoria encounters the criminals, who chase her to the edge of the cliff, where she now hangs precariously...

That's a story for another time...

This was #1 of the second four-issue miniseries based on the 1991 revival.

There was one more mini-series in the works, but it ended after only one issue was printed as the publisher abruptly went out of business.

Next week:

More Gothic Romance!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from our sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

DARK SHADOWS "Touchy Situation" Part 1

Remember the gothic tv soap opera Dark Shadows?

This is it...but it's not it!

Confused?

Read on, and all will be explained...

 This is why we call these chapter endings "cliffhangers".
Story by Maggie Thompson, art by Jose Pimentel.

This comic series from 1993 presented new stories based on the prime-time revival that ran for half a season in 1991. (Despite excellent ratings for the first couple of episodes, later eps were constantly pre-empted by news coverage of the first Gulf War, and the show never regained the audience.)

The tv series revival adapted the original soap opera's storyline from the point where Barnabas was freed from his coffin to the first time-travel story featuring Victoria witnessing how Barnabas became a vampire in 1795 Collinsport.

The comic presented sequel stories that went in a different direction than the later tales in the original tv series, creating a new continuity, much like the 2009 Star Trek movie did.

Before we forget, be here tomorrow for the conclusion to this issue!

And now a word from out sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop

DARK MANSION OF FORBIDDEN LOVE "Kiss of Death" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...Anne Mason lying in a coffin after being attacked by strange beings...

...and now, the astounding conclusion to this tale from Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #3 by Jack Oleck and Don Heck!

Ah, a happy ending...

But not for Gothic Romances in comic book form!

This title, DC Comics' Dark Mansions of Forbidden Love, only lasted four issues before becoming Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion, a standard horror comic that ran ten more issues.

Its sister title, Sinister House of Secret Love suffered a similar fate, turning into Secrets of Sinister House, also after four issues.

Marvel Comics' attempt at a similar title was not a comic, but a b/w magazine with prose stories and spot illustrations called Gothic Tales of Love.

It died after three issues.

Charlton Comics' Haunted Love was the second-longest running series with ten titanic issues of weird love. 
We've presented a couple of stories from it HERE and HERE.

But the longest-lasting gothic romance comic book series was one based on a tv series.

Guess which one?

Next week:

More Gothic Romance 
as we present a multi-part, book-length tale of...
Dark Shadows!

 Barnabas Collins!
Victoria Winters!
Josette duPres!
Angelique Bouchard!
Willie Loomis!
Dr. Hoffmann!
and all the rest...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from our sponsor...

Check out the

True Love Comics Tales™

Comics Collectibles Shop